Stay Alive
by effievescence
Summary: "Stay with me." She whispered, even though she knew he couldn't stay for long. Still, perhaps she meant it for even when they weren't together. Haymitch tightened his grip around her and mumbled into her fake hair, "Always."  HAYFFIE.
1. Lover

**A/N- Rated T even though it mentions sexuals and stuff, but it's not really graphic or descriptive at all.**

**Disclaimer: I am not associated with the Hunger Games franchise in any way.**

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><p>It was mid summer when it happened. Warm and dry, unless of course you were in the arena that the 75th Hunger Games were being held at, where it was mostly wet and humid. Almost three days of the games had passed, and by now it seemed like the entire population of Panem was sitting silently in suspense. That is, all but one.<p>

"Haymitch!" A high pitched voice with a thick Capitol accent, followed by the click-clack of extremely high heels, sounded through a corridor of the mentor building. At the end of the corridor there was a door that opened up to a pod-like room designed to look like a hotel room which, supposedly, contained Haymitch Abernathy. Effie took her chances and flung the door open. To her relief, Haymitch sat on a comfortable looking chair placed in front of a wide control panel and split-screen monitor that showed the whereabouts of both Katniss and Peeta. To his left there was a half empty bottle of white liquor, but it looked like that was the only alcohol he'd consumed recently.

Or so Effie hoped.

"Haymitch." She stated again matter-of-factly, only this time it was quieter. He turned to her, the urgency in her voice pulling him out of whatever zone the games had put him in.

"You're not supposed to be here." His tone was not a kind one.

"Tell me what's happening."

Haymitch sighed in apparent frustration. "Effie, how many times-"

"No! I'm so sick of being left in the dark, Haymitch! I'm part of this team too, whether you like it or not!" She was yelling again, and it seemed to enrage him. He stood up so forcefully his chair flew backwards. "If I tell you, then you die! They'll take you and torture you for information! When I leave later tonight, I can't bring you with me. And if you know-"

She cut him off again. "They'll assume I know things even if I don't! But if there's any chance I can get away before they come, I want to at least know where I'm to go. Where you'll be."

Haymitch contemplated this for a moment, debating whether she was right or whether she was completely stupid. Begrudgingly, he decided on the former.

"Watch the games. In here, at your place, I don't care. But you have to watch them. When it happens, leave. If you leave now it won't be safe. But when it happens, get out as soon as possible. Do whatever you can to get the District 13."

He was now close enough to Effie to see her eyes flicker with confusion. "But 13 is-"

It was his turn to cut her off now. "It's not. It's still there. That's where I'll be. You have to get there."

She nodded, though she was clearly still confused. "One more question."

He raised an eyebrow.

"How will I know when to go?"

Haymitch let out a chuckle and took a few steps towards the woman. "You'll know, sweetheart."

This seemed to infuriate Effie, as she opened her to start yelling at him, but he quickly took her face in his hands and forced himself to become serious. "It's hard to explain, Eff. But I promise, you will know."

And then he kissed her. Rushed and hastily, as if only to shut her up, but he kissed her all the same. At first she drew back, not only shocked but also scared, but he was too strong and he held her against him until she warmed up. Then the unthinkable happened.

Effie Trinket kissed Haymitch Abernathy back. And feverously at that.

It was like a domino effect. Soon, the two of them were lost in their own world. They stumbled into a little cubicle that could only be considered a bedroom because it contained a bed and a closet. They both became a blur of discarded clothes and heavy breathing as the tumbled backwards onto the bed. The room became heated as they danced what they both thought might be their first and final dance.

As the breathing slowed and the heat faded, Effie took her place in her lovers' protective arms. "Stay with me." She whispered, even though she knew he couldn't stay for long. Still, perhaps she meant it for even when they weren't together.

Haymitch tightened his grip around her and mumbled into her fake hair, "Always."

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><p><strong>AN- Hehehe, just feeding you some fluff so I can rip your heart out. :) I feel like saying "Always" is the best way to show love now. But, you know, reviews are a nice alternative. ;D**


	2. Dreamer

**A/N- I'm switching from past tense to present, just because present is easier to write in.**

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><p>She's running. The ground beneath her is turning to mush and she can't figure out for the life of her where she is. So Effie just continues to run, because what else do you do in that situation? The sky is switching from blue to red to magenta and she knows she's screaming but she can hardly hear herself (the shade of magenta is horrific, one that's not even close to the color of her favorite blazer, so perhaps that's why she's so upset). Haymitch is calling her name somewhere off in a world that she knows she'll never get to. Still, she keeps running, and all of a sudden electricity is shooting through her body, but it's a numb sensation, like she's been feeling it for quite sometime but just now realized it was there.<p>

Ah, so that's why she's screaming.

All of the sudden Effie's infront of a big statue of the number 13, but no matter how hard she tries, she can't get past it. Her shoe breaks, her wig falls infront of her face so she can't see, literally everything goes wrong and it's impossible to get past the statue. Haymitch's voice is nearer now, the statue must be the only thing seperating the two of them. His voice is growing louder and louder until finally, she's shaken awake.

It takes two seconds for her to stop screaming and realize she's in Haymitch's room.

"Mornin'." Haymitch says to her while getting up from the bed and walking over to his closet.

It's not morning, it's actually 10:45 at night, and not 2 hours ago the two of them were having sex in the very bed Effie was sitting on. Haymitch tosses a white button down in the woman's direction and, surprisingly, pulls another clean shirt out and throws it on himself. But he doesn't bother to tuck it in.

"I had a nightmare." She says in a dazed sort of way, one that makes Haymitch chuckle as he makes his way over to her.

"Join the club, sweetheart."

He winks and she scowls at him in return.

"You're an asshole." Effie grumbles while slipping his cold shirt over her tiny self and doing up the buttons. She gets up and scans the floor for her underwear, hoping to retain at least a tiny bit of dignity. Effie Trinket is a lady, after all.

Luckily her panties aren't hard to find because she doesn't feel like looking for the rest of her clothes. Effie did take notice of the wig lying on the pillow, though, but she doesn't care too much. It isn't like she has to get all dolled up for whatever is waiting for her in 13. Surely there won't be people there.

Through her peripheral vision, she can see Haymitch sitting on his bed, staring at her. She whips around to face him with her hands on her hips.

"What?"

"Your hair's nice." He's striding over to her now with that stupid grin on his face and she can't help but let her guard down. She smiles back up at him and wraps her arms around his neck when he's close enough. They kiss for what feels like eternity, but they both know they don't have that kind of time.

When Effie pulls away, she realizes there's a question she's been wanting to ask him. "How on earth do you suppose I get to 13?"

He scratches the back of his neck and lets out a sigh, as if it's the most annoying thing in the world to have to explain this to her. He starts to lean in and she thinks he's going to kiss her again, but instead his lips are finding their way to her ear. "I've tried to be as vague as possible about this- because who knows if this place is bugged or not- but you're not making that very easy."

Effie's eyes cast downward and she tries to push him away, but he's too strong and she knows she has to hear what he's going to say, anyway. "As soon as _the thing _happens, I'm going to have a hovercraft fly over this building. It's only going to stay for a minute or so- and as soon as I see you and get you on board we're leaving- so you have to get out there as soon as possible, alright?"

She nods, trying to soak in the information he just told her. A minute to get out of the building after this so-called "thing" happens? The least he could do is tell her what the "thing" is, but she knows better than to ask.

Haymitch pulls away from her and rests his forehead on hers. "Promise me you'll hurry."

"I promise."

He nods and gives her a quick kiss on the forehead, then all too soon he's halfway out the door. "Stay alive, Haymitch!" she calls to him, and she catches his smirk right before the door shuts completely.

The hour of waiting is agony, but Effie doesn't dare peel her eyes off the screen. There's an awful lot of fighting going on, and when Johanna almost kills Katniss, she can't help but cover her eyes for a moment until she remembers she has to keep watching. She's just about lost every inch of hope that something's going to happen when a bright light fills up the entire screen, and then the power's cut off.

Effie's out the door in seven seconds.

She's running again, only this time it's real. Down the steps, into the lobby and she's almost out the exit when she sees the men in white uniforms and feels the impact of something heavy hit her head.

The last thing she sees is the hovercraft appearing in the sky outside the window.

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><p><strong>AN- Sorry this took so long for me to update, I got really busy really fast. The next chapter will be up sooner though, I've already got what I want to write all planned out :)**

**Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed! It means so much 3**


	3. Savior

**A/N- ****I always seem to think my chapters are going to be long but they end up being really short lol. Sorry :( Anyways, sorry for the long wait! I want to say I promise it won't happen again, but I can't be sure of that ): I'll try my hardest though! And reviews help!**

**Also, I went from Effie's POV to Haymitch's POV, because of a suggestion in one of the reviews. So yeah, I hope I didn't make Haymitch too OOC.**

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><p><strong>'<strong>No.' is the only word Effie knows how to say anymore.

That's not to say she speaks a lot- it's very rare that one hears something come out of Effie Trinket's mouth- but when she does it's always the same syllable. Once, one of the large, beefy men swore they heard her say 'please' before it (it shouldn't have been so hard to believe. After all, Effie had _manners_) but the others just laughed at him, because their little bitch was almost as mute as an Avox.

If only they could hear her thoughts towards them.

It almost became a routine, their little visits. They would come in, ask if she was going to talk today, and she'd stare right back at them with so much hatred in her eyes that they had to have been able to almost feel it.

Haymitch would be proud of her. "My little hellcat." He'd say.

Then the rest of it would come so fast that she hardly remembered it the next time she'd wake up. The hurt. The screams. The laughter. And then, finally, the darkness. It would engulf her entire being until she felt the pinch of a tiny needle in her arm, and then the life would slowly come back to her.

After about two weeks of this, she realized they were keeping her on the brink of death.

Now it's been what she guesses is three months, and she wishes they would just end it now.

She doesn't know why they don't kill her. It isn't like she tells them anything. Perhaps their sick little minds like seeing her writhe on the ground as they torture her and do unspeakable things to her, things that a lady should not be doing.

But then, Effie isn't a lady anymore. They make sure to remind her of that every time.

It's been a few days since they've come , and she wonders if maybe they're finally letting death take it's toll on her. She doesn't pity herself, it's her fault she's in here. If she would've just been a little bit faster, left the room a little bit quicker.

She can feel death consuming her. Her heartbeat is slowing, her breathes are becoming more ragged. It's only a matter of time, and then it will all be over.

But Effie is not so lucky, and soon she hears the metal clink of the doors and heavy footsteps of several men sound outside her cell.

She wonders if it will ever end.

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><p>It's all Haymitch can do not to punch the dumbass "soldiers" that are with him right square in the jaw. They keep stopping to look around, assuring him that they're just making sure nothing harmful is near them.<p>

As if taking a gander at the architecture of the walls is going to do anything to save them.

He's got one thing on his mind, and it's not the Peacekeepers that might be waiting to kill them as they approach the prison in the basement. It's Effie Trinket.

Haymitch is sure she's down here. He's been informed that this is where the Capitol keeps the citizens who rebel against them, but whose tongues might still be of use. The description horrifyingly fits Effie to a tee.

The metal door acting as a barrier between him and Effie is not hard to force open, and he's surprised to see that there are no Peacekeepers on the other side of it. He wastes no time checking the cells. The first is empty, the second contains a man who's rocking back and forth in fetal position in a corner (Haymitch orders the dumbasses to get him out of there), and the third contains something no one should ever have to see.

Blood, dried and wet alike, is splattered through the entire cell. The smell is so awful that not even Haymitch- whose house absolutely reaks- can stand it. Lying in the middle of it all is a petite, blonde woman. She's trembling and uttering something that Haymitch can barely hear.

He doesn't waste any time scooping her up and exiting the cell.

When she finally looks up at him, he barely recognizes her. Gone is the happiness that used to light her bright blue eyes up. It's been replaced with fear and sadness. She's shaking her head and whispering something, and it takes him awhile to realize she's saying "No."

She doesn't know who he is.

"Effie, it's me. It's Haymitch." He's begging her to remember him as he climbs up the stairs, dumbasses in tow. He's almost to the door when he tries to get through to her one more time. "I'm not going to hurt you, Princess."

If he wouldn't have been staring so intently at her, he never would've caught the spark of recognition in her eyes that leaves as quickly as it comes. Then, when they put her on a stretcher and load her into the hovercraft, she goes back to shaking her head and saying the only word she knows how to say.

Haymitch is left standing on the pavement, wondering if he'll ever get his Effie back again.


End file.
